Paranoid?

My husband and I have just decided to start TTC and I am so excited. Last month was the first month we tried - every second day from the end of my period to 10 days before I thought my period would be due. I always have had regular cycles of 31 days in the past - even since coming off Yasmin 5 months ago. However since stopping the Yasmin I have noticed that for ~3 days before my period starts I get dark brown spotting (old blood) - is this any cause for concern??

I wasn't very worried.. except this has been the first month where my period was late! Of course I immediately thought I was pregnant, but after 5 negative tests and then my period arriving (at 42 days!!) I was so disappointed.. I've gotten over that and now I'm just excited to start trying again but I'm paranoid that I might have a hormonal imbalance or something... Work has been quite stressful this month but why the brown spotting every period?? why the late period this time?? am I even ovulating? I've been reading up on progesterone deficiency... now I'm convinced my difficulty sleeping could be due to this and my body cant support a pregnancy.

I am going to try some ovulation predictor kits this month (to help conceive and to try and make sure I actually am) - does anyone have any recommendations as to brand? I heard there are some that test LH and estrogen - any help would be really appreciated, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Thank you - that is really good to know. On impulse I just bought 25 strips from the pregnancy shop - hopefully they will give me a bit of reassurance/direction. I think the problem last month was I stopped having sex to early - I must have ovulated much later than I thought?

It could be that your body is still trying to get into its own rhythm after the pill.

You could always see about blood tests as they will show whether you do have any hormonal inbalances. THat said, they can sometimes come back fine but you still can have longer cycles.

The brown bleeding is old blood, and does sound strange but it may be leftover uterine lining from the period before. I guess you can use it as a sign that AF is showing up! Ive also read that brown bleeding, or what they call breakthrough bleeding is very common on the pill, and when coming off it.

Definitely try some ovulation predicting, whether its the urine tests, temping or whatever works for you. It may take a couple cycles but you can at least see if you are ovulating in the first place. good luck!

I'm a believer in instinct when it comes to your body, if you feel something is a bit off its a simple matter to do a blood test (day 21 of your cycle) which will show whether you ovulated and give a progesterone level.

It took quite a long time for my body to get back to normal after the pill. I had a number of cycles like the one you spoke about, eventually my GP did some bloods and te long cycles were anovulary (no ovulation). Things got back to normal eventually but it took time.

You could try temping to be sure you are ovulating, but then again after only one cycle you could also just be relaxed about it (as if that's possible!! I know !!) for a few more months before you go to any extra effort.

In spite of being in an almost constant state of motion while looking after the kids and trying to keep things together at home, it can seem as though parents have managed to get nothing on the to-do list done by the end of the day.

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